The 41st Annual Art Exhibition was a huge success! I received numerous compliments at the opening reception last week on the high quality of the student work. All art students ( approx. 400) hung at least one work of art in the lower library. It represents a diverse and robust group of artwork that includes drawings, paintings, digital work, photography, mixed media, sculpture, mixed media, fashion and 3D prints.

AP Students exhibited drawings, paintings and collages in the Cambridge Street Gallery.

We also had our Makerbot 3D printer on display and students exhibited their 3D creatures created in the 123D app.

Our raffle was a huge success! Thank you to all who purchased tickets and congratulations to Wayne Little who won the GoPro Camera. All of the proceeds go to the BHS Art Scholarship Fund and help our numerous art students who choose to pursue a career in the Visual Arts.

The Fashion show was delightful and impressive. Students modeled their own creations including skirts, dresses and outfits made from recycled materials.

Art students in Grades K through 12 from across Massachusetts have been selected to display their creative works at the State Transportation Building in Boston. This multi- media exhibit is sponsored by the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) in conjunction with Youth Art Month, a national celebration that emphasizes the value of art education for all children andencourages support for the quality art programs in our schools.

The Youth Art Month Exhibit will be on display and open to the public on weekdays from 9 am until 5 pm, from March 10th through April 25th (closed Patriots Day, Monday, April 21st). Admission is free.

You can find further details about Youth Art Month, as well as directions and parking information by visiting the MassachusettsArt Education website at www.massarted.com and following the Youth Art Month link.

The students in Drawing and Painting used materials of their choice to create a wide variety of work.

Teneshia created this digital painting. It captures the moments of waiting and imprisonment that David described.

Jovan created this drawing after researching photographs of the internment camps. He depicts the vastness of the simple and inadequate housing provided.

Wilson added a twist to the American flag by including barbed wire and the stark white imprisoned figure. He researched Tule Lake Internment Camp and included the sign to signify that camp.

Demi was struck by David's story and how as a young child he could only take a few items from home. She created a painting of a child's teddy bear falling apart and behind barbed wire. She included the images of the simple housing in the background. Each building has a number on it. David described having to remember the number of his "house" since it was the only marking that noted the family living quarters.

Sana wanted to show the contrast of a guard's life at the internment camp and that of an interned child. She used paint and collages scraps of old fabric to create her image.

Justin created this collage of headlines and newspaper articles that he researched.

The opening reception for Burlington High School's 41st Annual Art Exhibition will be held on Thursday, March 20, from 6:30 until 8:30 pm, which is also the night of the high school's Open House. Hundreds of pieces of work from all art classes will be on display in the high school library and main lobby. The show will be up until the second week of April, but this is the only night that the exhibition will be open to the general public.

Also that night, the Fashion Design class will be hosting its second annual Fashion Show in the lower library.

Cambridge Street Gallery, across from the school's cafeteria, will also be open that night. On display will be work from our AP Studio Art students.

The exhibition is a juried art show for high school students (grades 10-12) from public and private schools within the Sixth Congressional District of Massachusetts. The exhibition was juried by Chris Van Allsberg and Greg Bokor

The exhibition will be open for public viewing March 5 - 7, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. and March 8 noon - 5 p.m.

The closing awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 8, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Montserrat College of Art’s 301 Cabot Street Gallery, Beverly, MA.

The Francis Wyman Elementary School received a generous donation of artwork from the Hair Cuttery. Dennis Ratner is the founder and CEO of Ratner Companies, including Hair Cuttery salons, a national family of hair salons. Dennis is also the cousin of artist Phillip Ratner. The Hair Cuttery supports the arts and believes that art encourages imagination and stimulates the brain of a child.

The artwork "Through the Alphabet: from A to Z" is a collection of drawings created by artist Philip Ratner. Each drawing is skillfully drawn and illustrates a letter and an animal.

The artist is noted for his five sculptures at the statue of liberty and 40 sculptures at Ellis Island. Other permanent collections include works at The Smithsonian, The Library of Congress and The United States Supreme Court.

TheRatner Museum is dedicate to exhibiting his work. It is most unusual for an artist to have a museum permanently dedicated to his work during his lifetime and then sharing that museum with countless numbers of other artists. In 1984, Mr. Ratner was inspired to open the first of two museums, one in Israel and one in the Washington, DC area with his cousin Dennis Ratner.

With degrees from the Pratt Institute and American University, Ratner taught in the Washington, DC area for 23 years, and at the same time built his reputation as an international artist. No longer teaching, his students from as long ago as the early sixties still track him down and speak of the influence he had on their lives.

We are fortunate to have some of Philip Ratner's artwork.

I wanted to make sure that the artwork was properly displayed at Francis Wyman. The wall to display the artwork got a fresh new color selected by Interior Designer Deborah Chang. BHS Art Student Shelia Joyce helped me paint the wall and Architect Jansen Chang also generously donated his time and helped hang the artwork. The Francis Wyman custodial staff was extremely helpful as well.

The Francis Wyman PTO funded the supplies to display and hang the artwork.